Principal Engineer - Vector Database

About the role

Huawei Canada is hiring a Principal Engineer to lead the development of next‑generation vector database storage engines within its Distributed Data Storage and Management Lab. The lab focuses on cloud‑native, serverless data infrastructure and AI workloads, aiming to deliver high‑performance, low‑latency vector search at scale.

Key responsibilities

• Architect and develop frameworks and engines for serverless computing tailored to AI workloads such as LLM training, inference, and reinforcement learning.
• Lead the design and innovation of vector database storage engines on a large‑scale Data + AI platform.
• Drive breakthroughs in vector indexing, retrieval algorithms, and storage architectures to enable low‑latency, high‑throughput vector search.
• Define and evolve the technical roadmap for next‑generation vector database storage technologies.
• Stay engaged with industry trends, open‑source ecosystems, and competitive landscapes, translating customer requirements into differentiated solutions.
• Architect and build high‑performance, scalable, and reliable vector storage systems used in production environments.

Required profile

• Proven ability to explore, design, and plan innovative systems technologies with strong technical judgment.
• Deep understanding of database systems, storage engines, and vector search technologies, with hands‑on experience shipping production systems.
• Leadership experience delivering mission‑critical products or subsystems to commercial deployment.
• Strong record of high‑quality system design, modular architecture, and long‑term maintainability.
• Experience operating at Staff/Principal/Architect level, influencing technical direction across teams.
• Experience with vector databases such as FAISS, Milvus, or HNSW‑based systems.
• Background in distributed systems, storage systems, or AI infrastructure.
• Contributions to open‑source projects or published systems research.

Required skills

• FAISS
• Milvus
• HNSW‑based systems
• RDMA